


Cutting It Close

by momothesweet



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, hangovers, it's good little funny time you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 10:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17202026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momothesweet/pseuds/momothesweet
Summary: After a wild night of diplomacy, damage, and debauchery, Jack has to hunt down Gabriel back on the base. Why in the world is he hiding?





	Cutting It Close

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution for the [They Loved Each Other Zine](https://theylovedeachotherzine.tumblr.com/)! Thanks to the mods for all of their hard work and a huge thank you to Adolphus for editing.

There’s a strange buzz on the base this morning. On top of the raging headache and the upset stomach, Jack is ready to smack any cadet out of the way. Completely unprofessional behavior, he knows, but he’s not ready to deal with eating breakfast, let alone the work that needs to be done today.

The summit in King’s Row had been a wild success, until a group of Null Sector troublemakers tried to ambush the ballroom and kidnap the president of France. He and Gabriel wanted a nice break from the guns and the pulse ammunition. That was wishful thinking, though. After Overwatch helped neutralize the threat, the last thing Jack remembers from that night is a bottle of some of the strongest French liquor he’s ever had. For the first time since joining Overwatch, he’d felt more human than “enhanced soldier.”

That’s definitely a bad thing, now that he’s sober (for the most part) and feeling all the terrible effects of a night like that. He groans when he drops to the bench, nearly dropping his tray of food as well when he takes his seat with the rest of the officers. Reinhardt jostles him with a jaunty good morning.

“You say anything else and I’ll demote you to a cadet, Lieutenant.”

Reinhardt simply laughs and gives Jack space to recuperate. A good chunk of time passes before he realizes that Gabriel still isn’t up for breakfast. 

Finally able to make eye contact with Ana, who’s naturally handling her hangover much better than he is, he asks, “Where’s Reyes?”

She puts down her coffee and grumbles, “Still trying to get up, perhaps? How should I know when it’s you who’s always with him?”

“That’s not true.”

“If I remember correctly,” Reinhardt says, “you and Gabriel spent the whole night talking about your days in the SEP!”

“And someone made fun of Gabriel’s hair,” Ana says. “Then you stole a security officer’s gun and threatened the poor soul.”

Jack isn’t sure how in the hell those two remember last night. All the memories in his own head are fuzzy. Ana’s observation, at least, helps a bit because he does remember ruffling Gabriel’s hair to a very annoying extent. Thinking much too hard about it, he stumbles to his feet, using Reinhardt for support. Ana stifles a laugh.

“Shut up,” Jack huffs. “I’m going to go look for him.”

“Sure,” Ana says. “Don’t forget to go to the conference room at 0900. You and Gabriel are supposed to talk to the cadets about the summit.”

The meeting is the last thing he wants to think about. It’s already a challenge trudging through the halls, making eye contact with fresh-faced and overly-cheerful cadets, who stand to attention when he walks by. Jack waves them off and orders that all questions be held until after the meeting. Baby steps.

 

Jack is huffing as if he’s walked twenty miles when he reaches Gabriel’s room. Based on the sharp cursing through the doors, Jack was wise to simply go back to his room. He knocks three times and fights the urge to lean on the door.

“Go away!” is the snarl he gets in response.

Jack sighs. “Open up, Gabriel. Meeting’s in half an hour.”

“I’m not going.”

“That’s an order.”

“Screw your orders!”

Jack stiffens and bangs on the door this time. Gabriel might be brash during missions and interrogations, but he’s never shot down direct orders from his commanding officer. Jack takes a deep breath in and speaks firmly, attempting to control his exasperation.

“Regardless of what happened last night, it is our duty to report on the information given to us. We did part of our job last night and we’re required to complete it with this meeting.”

Silence falls. Jack waits at the door, moving back and folding his arms, expecting Gabriel to storm out and head for the conference room like it’s an unspoken race. Except he doesn’t come out. A minute passes. Then another, and another. Then the door swings open and Jack’s eyes widen.

“You think I’m gonna go to a meeting looking like this?” Gabriel asks.

As a leader, Jack usually has the right words to say that will inspire everyone to victory in any situation. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any encouraging words for Gabriel. What was once a full head of beautiful, soft hair, is now a ridiculous spectacle thanks to the very obvious buzz-cut. Going right down the middle of Gabriel’s scalp and nowhere else. He looks like one of those cartoon super-villains Jack grew up watching on Saturday morning TV. The main difference is that those cartoons usually looked visually appealing. Gabriel just looks like a mess. A hilarious mess, though even a titter might prompt Gabriel to point his shotgun to Jack’s head.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Gabriel finishes, fury in his eyes.

Just as he’s about to slam the door, Jack presses his hand to it. “Wait. We can fix this.”

“I’m not putting on a hat.”

“Just let me come in, dammit.”

Gabriel stares at Jack, then opens up the door, probably realizing that this is his only option.

“Still got those clippers from Ana?” Jack asks.

He stares at Jack for another moment before leading him into the bathroom where the clippers are already sitting on the counter, unplugged. 

“Already thought about whatever you’re thinkin’. I’m not doing it, though.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” Gabriel stops himself and turns away from Jack. 

It doesn’t take long for Jack to understand. Knowing Gabriel for a long time means being able to deduce what he’s thinking and be right ninety-nine percent of the time. Despite Gabriel’s intimidating demeanor, he’s got a self-conscious streak that he can never seem to shake off, no matter how much Jack tries to drive it away with pretty words and the occasional kiss (in private, of course). He doesn’t fully get why Gabriel should be self-conscious about anything, given his skills and his looks, but everyone’s got their own demons.

Placing a gentle hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, Jack gives him a gentle nudge. “You know, you could be wearing a clown suit and the cadets would still respect you.”

“It’s not them I’m worried about.”

Jack pauses. There’s that one percent. The only alternate thought he has clenches his heart. 

Smiling warmly, he kisses Gabriel’s cheek. “You think less hair’s gonna make me like you less?”

“It helps me fall asleep when you play with it.”

“Jesus, Gabriel. I thought I was the softy.” Jack laughs and wraps his arms around him, leaning forward to press his forehead against Gabriel’s. “Come on. Just get it over with. It’ll grow back.”

After a moment, Gabriel sucks it up and pulls back, patting Jack’s shoulder blades and ruffling those tousled golden locks. 

His smile returns, that hearty grin Jack has known for so long. “We did have fun last night, didn’t we?”

“Sure did.” Jack steps backward and takes a hold of the clippers, plugging it in to get this over and done. They’ve got a meeting, after all, and it’d be unprofessional of them to show up late. “Ana said something about me threatening to shoot someone over your hair.”

“Sounds about right. I still don’t know how this happened, though.”

“We’ll figure it out later.”

“Yeah, yeah, the meeting. Gotta be good role models and all that. It’s like we adopted a bunch of kids.”

“We’ll figure that out later, too.”

Gabriel’s quiet laugh is all Jack needs to hear to feel sober again. He turns and holds up the clippers, switching them on and staring down Gabriel’s current abomination of a hairstyle. “You ready?”

He nods, then quickly pulls up a chair from his room and takes a seat. “Hurry the hell up. I still need to eat. You got those notes?”

Jack swallows hard. As he runs the clippers over one side of Gabriel’s scalp, he hopes to all the gods and omnics that Ana and/or Reinhardt took notes during that meeting, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments, kudos, feedback and a haircut are greatly appreciated. <3
> 
> [Tumblr](http://peachofwork.tumblr.com)


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